1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a disposable cigarette gas lighter, and more particularly to a disposable cigarette gas lighter provided with a snuffing cover.
2. Description of the Prior Art
A disposable cigarette gas lighter (hereinafter referred to simply as a "disposable lighter" or "lighter") comprising a plastic fuel reservoir for retaining therein liquified inflammable fluid and an operative lighter assembly mounted on the reservoir is well known and widely used. The lighter assembly includes a flint holding means for holding a flint element, a sparking wheel, a spring element provided in the flint holding means for biasing the flint element onto the sparking wheel, a shaft for rotatably mounting the sparking wheel, a fluid nozzle for connecting the interior of the reservoir with the ambient air, a shut-off valve incorporated in the fluid nozzle, and a valve opening lever for opening the shut-off valve which is spring biased in the direction to close the valve and opens the valve when depressed against the force of the biasing spring.
This kind of disposable lighter is very cheap and convenient to carry, and accordingly, enjoys wide popularity and is replacing matches. However, since the lighter assembly is exposed, it is necessary and important to give careful consideration to safety. When the valve is not completely closed, there remains on the nozzle an extremely small flame which may ignite fluff or other inflammable material in the pocket. Such a fire may spread to the pocket material and other parts of the clothing.
In order to eliminate this danger, it is possible to improve the precision of the shut-off valve. This will, however, raise the cost of the lighter and undesirably detract from the foremost advantage of the disposable lighter--its cheapness.
On the other hand, since the disposable lighter is often carried in the pocket, it must be made safe from being easily lit in the pocket by accident. The conventional disposable lighter as described hereinbefore is lit by two actions, namely by rotating the sparking wheel and depressing the valve opening lever. Though it is very rare for a disposable lighter to be lit accidentally in the pocket, such an accident is indeed possible especially when the user is engaged in some rough physical activity as when playing a sport. One solution to this problem is to provide a snuffing cover on the lighter and bias the cover in its closed position. The problem in doing this, however, is that the snuffing cover must be easy to open to facilitate lighting but not so easily opened as to defeat the purpose for which it was provided.
It is known in the art to provide a snuffing cover on a disposable lighter. In the known lighter provided with a snuffing cover, the snuffing cover is usually combined with the sparking wheel so that the sparking wheel is rotated together with the snuffing cover in order to facilitate the operation of the lighter. Such a lighter, however, is disadvantageous in that the sparking wheel is rotated together with the snuffing cover even when the snuffing cover is opened accidentally in a pocket. Thus, any accidental opening of the snuffing cover as when the user is engaged in an active sport may cause accidental burning of the pocket. If, on the other hand, the operation of the snuffing cover is made completely independent of the rotation of the sparking wheel, the action to light becomes more complex and less prone to accidental lighting.